This invention is related to a dispenser for suppling a user with tissue paper that is dry or wetted by one or more of a plurality of selectable liquids according to the user""s choice.
Wet tissue is preferred by the public for all kinds of purposes, such as cleaning, refreshing or hygienic needs. Conventionally chosen liquids include, but are not limited to, mineral water, lemon solutions, detergent solutions, perfumes, oils and alcohol.
The applicant is aware of various patents directed to such dispensers. Most of them are based on the immersion of the tissue paper into a liquid. (See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,598,664, U.S. Pat. 3,980,203, U.S. Pat. No. 3,979,781, EP 0,680,721, DE 3,922,159, DE 3,409,905, DE 3,109,205, WO 88/01459, U.S. Pat. No. 3,995,582, U.S. Pat. No. 3,837,595, GB 1,222,465). Other patents disclose machines based on a spraying method. (See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,265,509, U.S. Pat. No. 504,456, U.S. Pat. No. 3,804,061, U.S. Pat. No. 3,776,773, GB 2,045,722, WO 9,304,622, DE 3,101,474, CH 653874.)
The stated purposes of all these foregoing patents is to provide wet tissue. To applicant""s knowledge, however, none of the disclosed devices have been commercialized on a significant scale.
There is still a need to provide a flexible and efficient method of delivering a wet tissue at will, the wetting operation being performed at the time of delivery, with a choice between different liquids. It is also desirable that the degree of wetting be adjustable, and that the tissue be folded so that one side is relatively dry for easy handling. Normally, spraying a tissue will end in a wet paper that will be difficult to use as the paper dissolves or becomes too wet to handle comfortably.
According to the present invention the tissue is folded and a selected liquid is sprayed only on one side. Folding the tissue into double layers and keeping one layer dry yields, in addition to the wet layer, a dry layer which is able to support the paper""s shape so that the user can still use the paper without tearing it.
In addition, the tissue paper in the preferred dispenser is sprayed immediately before using the tissue so that it will not be substantially dissolved at the time of dispensing, as is the case with usual pre-wetted paper tissue.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is a substantial advantage in the way this machine dispenses the tissue to the user. Because a pulling out of wet tissue can easily result in torn paper in hand and the tissue""s pieces stuck in the machine, the dispenser herein comprises an unloading mechanism to dispense the tissue to the user or to drop itxe2x80x94e.g., in a basketxe2x80x94if the user fails to take the tissue.
Another advantage lies in the fact that with this invention the user can have a choice of one or more pre-installed liquids according to the user""s immediate needs. For example a mother talking care of her child can first use a tissue sprayed with liquid detergent, and then a tissue sprayed with mineral water or other pre-installed oily emulsion. Moreover, by using an optional electronic selector, the dispenser can permit the user to choose the amount of liquid sprayed, in order to overcome the difference in viscosity of the liquid and/or the difference in the properties of the tissue paper being used.
A further advantage lies in the fact that the liquids can preferably be stored in replaceable closed containers, reducing the possibility of contamination as can occur with open containers or containers that are no replaced.